Your last sentence implies that the balance of money, pre-COVID, was in the city. Sure, there has always been plenty of money in Boston but the suburbs haven't been hurting and I would argue the aggregate of the suburbs always trounced the city. Weston. Lincoln. Dover. Wellesley (as you were eyeing), Lexington, Concord, etc. Not to mention the ocean communities both south & north of the city (Cohasset, Situate, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, etc) always had plenty of pricey homes.